That is prompting CPSC officials, consumer advocates, and furniture and electronics industry executives to explore ways to make dressers, storage cabinets, TVs and other heavy household items more stable. They also want to alert parents about these little-known hazards.

“Furniture was designed for the convenience of adults, child injury was never considered,” explained Dr. Gary Smith, president of the nonprofit Child Injury Prevention Alliance and a pediatrician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Parents “simply don’t know that they’ve got this danger lurking.”

Even safety-conscious parents mindful of the potential for tall furniture to tumble can be caught by surprise, with tragic consequences.

For instance, Jenny Horn, a mother and nurse in Kansas City, Mo., secured a tall armoire in her home to keep it from tipping. But she had no inkling that a relatively small item could be a hazard – until 2007, when her 2-year-old son, Charlie, choked to death underneath a 30-inch dresser in his bedroom.

The person taking care of Charlie at the time thought the young child was sleeping, and didn’t hear any loud noise even when the dresser toppled onto him after he apparently climbed on it. “They call it a silent death,” Horn said. Children “are a cushion for the fall of the dresser so you don’t necessarily hear a sound.”

In a similar accident, Kimberly Packard, a physical therapist in Sterling, Mass., lost her 3-year-old daughter, Meghan, in 2004.

“By the time we found her, it was too late,” Packard said, explaining that her husband and Meghan’s twin brother, Ryan, discovered her underneath a dresser.

Like Horn, Packard had taken precautions, securing taller bookcases to a wall, but she also never suspected that smaller pieces of furniture could pose a threat.

“I’m a well-educated woman. I’m well-connected in the world of safety,” said Packard, who teaches CPR and childbirth classes. “And I didn’t know.”

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Meghan Agnes Beck, 3, died in Sterling, Mass., in 2004, after a dresser toppled onto her. Her mother, Kimberly Packard, a physical therapist, launched Meghan’s Hope, a nonprofit that raises awareness of the dangers of unstable furniture.

Katie Elise Lambert, 3, died in 2005 after being crushed by a wardrobe cabinet in Jenkintown, Pa. Her mother, Judy Lambert, a school nurse, launched Katie’s Foundation to help other families.

Shane Siefert, 2, died in March 2011 after being trapped beneath a dresser at his home in Barrington Hills, Ill. His mother, Lisa Siefert, a graphic artist, started Shane’s Foundation, which supplies materials to hospitals and doctors to educate families on safety.

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In 2010, the most recent year for which federal estimates are available, unstable furniture sent about 23,600 people – the highest number since 2006 – to emergency rooms. Most of the injured were less than 10 years old.

Another estimated 20,000 people in 2010 were hurt by TVs, which experts say are often precariously placed on furniture not designed to support the sets.

The injuries include serious bruising, internal organ injuries and fractures. And from 2000 through 2010, the CPSC received reports of close to 300 deaths, mostly involving children who were crushed, in such accidents.

Consumer Product Safety Commission video

Since 2000, the furniture industry has been guided by a succession of voluntary stability standards for dressers and other wardrobe storage units.

The current standard, in effect since in 2009, calls for furniture to remain steady when all drawers are open and when a 50-pound weight is placed at the front of a drawer. That is meant to simulate a child around the age of 5 attempting to climb on furniture.

Chests and dressers also are supposed to have tip restraints that consumers can use to attach the furniture to a wall.

Jenny Horn of Kansas City, Mo., at Charlie's House, a demonstration safety house named for her son, Charlie Horn, who lost his life at age 2 when a dresser fell onto him. The project is designed to inform parents and caregivers about hazards to children, including furniture tip-overs. The current location is temporary while a permanent Charlie's House is being built. (Rich Sugg/The Kansas City Star)

Members of a panel including CPSC and industry officials, along with consumer advocates, are in the early stages of considering whether, and how, to toughen the standard once again.

Some experts, however, question whether a tougher voluntary standard would do much good. One key problem: Some companies simply ignore the guidelines.

Carlton Craig, a product compliance manager at Virginia-based Stanley Furniture Co., said he has seen competitors sell products that would fail the existing stability standard. “Where you get into trouble is with the furniture that is less expensive in some of the big box stores,” he said.

Thomas Lowery, who worked in testing and distribution for the Ethan Allen furniture retail chain for 27 years, agreed that many companies won’t live up to voluntary standards. For some manufacturers, if the rules aren’t mandatory, “they won’t do it,” he said.

What’s more, the ideas currently under consideration would continue to exempt items without drawers that children can climb on, such as tables and bookcases.

Although those items account for many injuries, they aren’t being considered for the possible revised voluntary standard because they are less likely to be involved in fatal accidents, according to Pat Bowling, a vice president with the American Home Furnishings Alliance trade group.

Neither is there any apparent push by consumer advocates or anyone else for the CPSC to impose mandatory government safety rules. Such a measure, aimed at furniture and TV sets, was introduced in Congress in 2005. Although it was supported by groups including the Consumer Federation of America, the bill failed.

How a child might tip over a piece of furniture and get injured. (Consumer Product Safety Commission)

One of the rationales given for not seeking a mandatory standard now is that a voluntary standard can be developed and revised more quickly. Scott Wolfson, a CPSC spokesman, added that when immediate action is needed to get faulty furniture out of the marketplace, his agency works with industry to carry out product recalls.

According to the CPSC , there have been nine furniture industry recalls since 1992, covering nearly 1.7 million pieces of potentially wobbly furniture.

Still, a rash of TV and furniture accidents in Illinois prompted U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who represents the state and is the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, to push the CPSC to take further steps. One of his requests was for the CPSC this year to boost efforts to educate the public about the hazards unsecured TV sets can pose to children.

Meanwhile, the CPSC is studying what kinds of TVs tend to be involved in the incidents.

Experts theorize that the increased numbers of TV set-related accidents in recent years stem, both directly and indirectly, from the popularity of big flat-screen TVs. One of the key problems: After families buy new TVs, many put their older, bulkier models on furniture unable to support them.

Even when certain safety initiatives, such as including furniture tip restraints, have been developed, it’s not clear most families take advantage of them. Earlier this year, the American Home Furnishings Alliance conducted a telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. households. It found that only 36 percent of households with children under the age of 6 anchored their TV or furniture to the wall to prevent tip-over accidents.

Furniture stability tested by putting a 50-pound weight on a drawer. To pass, the furniture must not tip over. (Stanley Furniture Company)

One possible obstacle is that renters might resist anchoring furniture to avoid disputes with their landlords.

Still, Smith of the nonprofit Child Injury Prevention Alliance said it’s a mistake to blame parents for the accidents. Instead, he said, businesses, consumers and government should work together and tackle it as a public health problem.“This is something we need to focus on and do it quickly,” he said.

In the absence of tougher rules, child safety centers have sprouted around the country at hospitals and elsewhere that work to educate the public about the hazards.

Charlie’s House, for example, which is named after Jenny Horn’s son, is a volunteer organization in Kansas City, Mo., dedicated to child safety. The nonprofit is building a safety demonstration house that parents and caregivers can walk through to learn about common hazards, including tip-over dangers.

For Horn, efforts to improve awareness of the risks can’t come soon enough.“It can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime,” she said.

The person taking care of Charlie at the time thought the young child was sleeping, and didn’t hear any loud noise even when the dresser toppled onto him after he apparently climbed on it. “They call it a silent death,” Horn said. Children “are a cushion for the fall of the dresser so you don’t necessarily hear a sound.”

I don’t even only where to start, I’m extremely careful about the furniture I buy and I have my furniture anchored to the wall. Tonight, I could have experienced the same tragedy that too many parents have endured. I had furniture from Ashely furniture delivered today. One of the pieces I purchased is a desk with a credenza on top. My twin 5 year old boys and I went up stairs to the loft to check out the furniture and as I opened one of the little doors on the credenza the entire credenza fell on top of me. This piece alone has to be close 300 pounds. With my babies standing next to me, I was supporting this huge piece of furniture on my body. I kept yelling for them to move, but they just wouldn’t leave my side and kept trying to push it back up. Somehow, maybe that super mom strength kicked in, but what 2 men struggled to carry, I was able to get it back on top of the desk. As I was lifting the credenza back onto the desk I noticed the bag of hardware tapped to the back of it. These two men didn’t bother to attach the credenza to the desk! Their neglect could have killed my children. I can’t tell you how much pain I’m in right now, even as I type this, I just can’t even imagine if it wasn’t me. That isn’t even the biggest problem

Crying in pain I called the Ashely store that I ordered from and explained what had happened to the manager and was met with an “oh well” attitude. They wouldn’t have someone come back out to my house fix it. As much pain as I was in, my only concern was getting this fixed so this thing does fall on one of my children. I was told “It’s 7:00, what do you want me to do?” I was beyond shocked at the lack of concern this woman had as I was literally crying on the phone. I explained to her that even if I tell my children to stay away from it they probably won’t because they are delayed and they do not completely grasp big consequences like death. I can’t begin to explain how disgusted and upset I was with how this woman treated me.

About an hour later I received another phone call from another person at Ashely Furniture who asked me to tell her what happened. I explained to her and also explained the situation with my children. She offered no solution, said she would call her co-worker and call me right back. She didn’t call me back. I tried calling her back and she didn’t answer.

I’m sitting here puzzled as to what to do, I’m in horrible pain and I refuse to go to bed because I’m terrified that one of my boys will get up and I won’t here them and they will forget what I said and something horrible will happen to them.

I have no words for this company and I don’t know what to do. Will you please help me? I’m at a loss for what to do.

Kids are also in danger of suffocation if they become accidentally trapped in a cabinet, toy chest or laundry machine; in 2007 alone there were 3,270 injuries to children ages 2 to 14 involving toy chests. Always supervise children around any confined space and keep the doors closed and locked. Toy chests that meet voluntary standards set by the CPSC are equipped with lid supports that hold the lid open in any position. The standards also call for ventilation holes to prevent suffocation. If you have a toy chest with a lid that doesn’t stay open, the CPSC recommends you remove the lid or install a spring-loaded lid support.

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